If Silence Were a Color
by ShreddingRibbons
Summary: Slight AU but i wouldn't worry too much. Sasuke and Sakura are set on giving the other the silent treatment, and they're driving Naruto nuts! being the Hokage he sends them on a fairly easy mission,but will this somehow pry them from their shells?SasuSaku
1. blood and water

Um, yes, so I tried to write this, it might suck, but hey, boredom is the devil's playground. Beware of SasuSaku.

~*~

"Damn it Naruto!" Sakura stomped unhappily towards the Hokage's office, angry that her idiotic childhood friend had interrupted her right when Kent was proposing to Susan! Soap Opera's were her latest addiction. So, the pink-haired ANBU stormed down the corridor in all her glory.

Black fingerless gloves made of course fabric came to her elbows, and she wore her animal mask on the side of her head, she felt it got in the way most of the time anyway. She was 20 now, and had kept her hair at that short, meek cut, although its vibrant pink had faded some, and the strands had become slightly more wispy and grunge. But why did she care? She no longer cared for her appearance, she was more focused on her missions.

Angrily Sakura slammed the door open, glaring at the spiky haired blond who had been reclining lazily in his chair until her rather noisy entrance.

"You called?" she growled through gritted teeth, her smoldering gaze boring into her old friend's face irritably.

"Sakura!" there he went, back to his old chirpy self, and he sat straight in his chair, his signature goofy grin spreading across his face like some frighteningly contagious wildfire. "Good, I have something for you to do." The nin rolled her eyes.

"Obviously. Details about the mission and when I leave." She had become very blunt over the past few years as well, and the excitement dimmed from Naruto's eyes.

"I hate it when you guess." Sakura raised a pink eyebrow delicately, arching it over her shiny azure eye.

"It's really not that hard, the only reason you call me in here is if I have a mission or you want to go out for ramen." He squinted at her tactless comment, pouting obscuringly.

"Fine, just ask Sasuke then, I already told him. And he was nice about, unlike _you._" For the first time since she entered the room that she noticed the fellow ANBU standing to the side of the room, his obsidian oculars studying her emotionlessly. How she tired of that stare, it wasn't even cold, just knowingly blank, if that made any sense at all. He wore gloves that matched hers, and his mask was also discarded to the side of his head. Black shirt, grey pants.

"Hello." Finally she acknowledged his existence, throwing a short, fluid nod in his direction. If she was in an even pissier mood than she was in now she would have smirked, copying his favorite facial expression. The Uchiha arched an eyebrow, symbolizing he returned her greeting.

Naruto looked from one to the other then let out a whiny groan in strict displeasure.

"Will you two stop? How long has it been now?" Sakura was silent, but her opponent chose to answer.

"A year." Naruto frowned, dropping his hot-aired head into his hands.

"I can't believe you two." He glared at them. "Go away, and discuss the mission before you two split for your brooding sessions." Both ANBU cast a dangerous look at their lazy Hokage, and his bright eyes widened and his hands waved in front of him, showing he meant no harm, knowing that they would not hesitate to attack, especially because they knew him so well.

With that the two grumpy nin left the blonde's office and walked side-by-side, ignoring the other as they stalked down the hallway towards the entrance to the outside. When Naruto asked 'How long has it been?' he was referring to the fact that the two refused to believe in the other's existent. Both were elite's and both worked well together because of their great power and agility, but they refused to speak regularly to one another.

The whole silent treatment thing was more Sakura's fault actually. After they let Sasuke out of the cell he had been in for eight months she completely ignored him. She didn't love him. She _didn't. _Or at least that's what she chanted in her head every time she caught a glimpse of him. Sakura declined the act of forgiving him. The ANBU was angry over his betrayal, how he tossed aside his friends and community so easily and carelessly. She hated him, held such a spiteful grudge over him it clouded her vision every time that little unforgivable snake appeared in her view. The pink-haired medic just couldn't stand his prideful stoicness, the superior air that floated about him as he strutted around, showing off his greatness. He thought himself a deity, didn't he? Well, _she _did not.

Sasuke was silent because she was silent, and she was silent because of his silence, along with the healthy side dish of hate and disapproval. And so that's how it went in a continuous circle, resulting in a near silence for an entire year, a few muttered "hellos" and "good-byes". Poor Naruto had to stand it, two of his closest friends torturing the other in a never-ending stream of choked greetings and dismissals, never a true sentence exchanged between either one.

~*~

Sakura and Sasuke sat under a tree, sitting stiffly as they had been doing for the past twenty minutes. They had come here to discuss the mission after they left Naruto's office, but neither could bring themselves to speak. Finally Sakura braved her stubbornness and, not even throwing a simple glance his way, brought the hard, airy silence to a close.

"So, what're we doing this time?" her voice was croaky from lack of speaking, and she cleared her throat right after she spoke.

"It's just us two, actually. There is this band of ninja that is leaving trashed villages in its wake, and we've been hired by a similar village to get rid of the band." Sakura nodded jerkily, her eyes flickering on him for a moment, then back to the small stream that sputtered in front of her. This slight action encouraged him to go on. "You're coming along mostly for your medical skills, namely because these guys aren't too bright but they've got crazy good aim." She knew the bastard was insulting her, telling her he only needed her for medical use. She turned and smiled sweetly at him.

"Don't worry, I'll patch you up. It's understandable I'm coming with, you never were good at dodging, I guess everyone's 'got crazy good aim' to you." Sakura could see the petty anger she had unleashed upon him pinch his pronounced, flawless features. Happy with her reply she turned away again, watching the cool water trip over the smooth gray stones huddling along the gravely bottom. But Sasuke hadn't resigned himself from this battle yet.

"I'm glad I'm going on a mission with you." Her heart did a clumsy little ballet twirl in her chest, but she ignored it. Where was _this _revelation coming from? "I mean, you'll be quiet, but if I went with another medic girl I think she'd talk all the time and be annoying." Sasuke tilted his head, the corner of his mouth tugging up into a smirk as he delivered his piercing blow. "Kinda like you when we were genin's Sakura. Only, I doubt they could beat you at being annoying, you were just _so _good at it." He didn't move when a kunai whistled cleanly past his ear, nicking the shell ever-so-slightly before it cut neatly into the tree behind him, sliding deep into its wooded flesh. Impressive, he hadn't even seen her flinch, and even now she still stared out innocently at the brook in front of them, falsely fascinated by the choppy, noisy waves caused by the underlying rocks.

He raised his hand gingerly to his ear, flicking away the drop of blood that had hesitantly escaped from the miniscule cut the kunai had made. Sasuke didn't like to bleed.

Sakura didn't jump in the light pain Sasuke's kunai caused when it shot past her hand, cutting just underneath the knuckles, which, she realized warily, were significantly deeper than the peck she had laid on his ear. Cheeky bastard. The pink-haired ANBU knew that if she turned around Sasuke would no longer be there, so she just didn't bother.

Dipping her hand into the stream she sighed softly as the cold, hurried water stung at the notches in her flesh the kunai had made, and she watched her blood turn orange as it ran into the rushing brook, being carried away by the eager waves of the creek. Sakura decided against healing the cuts, she would keep them, let them scab, let them make her thoughts wander to Sasuke. No matter how she wished him not to be, often when she was alone with nothing to do he was the object of her thinking, filling her mind with anger and memories, confusing and annoying her, regularly leaving her very frustrated and put out. But she promised herself only to think of the happy memories of him and Naruto when they were kids, memories she used to think painful, but now she looked back upon them fondly. Tonight they would start their mission. Tonight the turmoil would begin to ensue.

~*~

I wonder if you hated it, perhaps you did. I don't know, I kinda like the aspect of them being ANBU and all. Things _will_ get more interesting, I promise, and no, this fic will not be ridiculously long, just a mild length. Review? Oh come on, you know you want to!


	2. desire's scent

And so the fun begins.

~*~

_Bee-beep, bee-beep, bee-beep, bee-be-_

"Shut up already!" Sakura slammed her hand down on the black plastic machine, hoping to silence its repetitive squawking. Even with her harsh beating the alarm clock refused to cease its irritating tones, making the ANBU nearly shake with anger. "RAWR!" The pink-haired medic sent the confounded contraption hurtling through the air, smashing it and ending its life upon the opposite wall of her apartment. "Thank God." She muttered, her dull voice muffled by the pillow she had promptly shoved her face into.

Sakura slept before she went on missions, it helped her chakra recuperate, and it let her get some rest before she went gallivanting across the Fire Country. She had promised Sasuke that she'd meet him at the gates an hour after sundown, around 7:30. The ANBU half heartedly fell off her bed, letting the impact of the cold wood flooring against her skin and bones help along the waking process. With a groan she stumbled up from her current position on the ground, and schlepped irritably to the decapitated alarm clock, picking up the screen piece to find out what the time had been before she ended the damned machine's insignificant life. She blinked sleepily at the dimming red numbers, chuckling smugly to herself about her victory over the clock. 7:26 it read, letters fading away slowly. Sakura gave the screen a double take. 7:26? _7:26?!_ _SHIT! _The letters died away from the screen completely, giving her one last mocking, amused look before they disappeared into oblivion.

She hurled herself at her drawers and yanked them open, grabbing blindly at the mandatory articles of clothing. With one swift motion she flung off the t-shirt she had been dozing in and hurriedly pulled on a black tank top and black shorts, looking up into the mirror to fix her headband on her forehead, tossing her fluttery bangs over the Hidden Leaf Village symbol before tucking her weapons into her belt and hopping out the window. Somehow the medic executed her rushed landing and dashed towards the gates, not wanting to hear the stupid Uchiha gloat about her being late. Oh, how'd she'd wipe that smug smirk off his face if he even tried it on her.

~*~

Sasuke didn't hear Sakura when she came up behind him, looking a bit rumpled and weary. He had only gotten there a minute ago, and expected her to be late. Actually, he was anticipating the fact that he'd be able to tease her endlessly for her tardiness, but she did, in fact, show up on time, so he kept his usual stoic look on and glanced her over.

Dressed in black, weapons hidden except for a knife strapped to her bare calf, her ANBU mask set in the same position as his, pushed to the side. He wished her eyes would sparkle again like they did when they were genin, now her eyes simply glittered coldly, sleep slightly clouding the edges as the moon pooled out over the ground around them, lighting there way like a great white lantern. Perhaps he should break the breathy silence.

"And here I thought you weren't coming." The medic snorted.

"You wish." She quirked an eyebrow, an action she seemed to love carrying out, and crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her bitten nails against her upper-arm impatiently. "Now, Mr. Awesome, are we going or not?" He let the smirk grow upon his lips, forcing a wave of anger to shuttle past his fellow ANBU's face. The smirk widened, she was so much more becoming when she was angry, she really was.

Her grassy eyes flickered dangerously, challenging you to make her attack, unleash her said anger. Her creamy pale skin seemed to grow as white as the moon, and it was as if her already faded peach-pink hair seemed to shudder a shade darker. She looked scary in a sexy way, so serious, not that she wasn't painfully serious all the time already.

He searched her with his shady obsidian eyes before he decided she didn't need an answer, forced all his chakra to his feet, and bounced off.

~*~

Sasuke was glancing off of branches, moving at a swift pace through the forest so for the first hour he thought he had lost the medic, but suddenly he sensed someone in front of him, and he yanked out a kunai, throwing it effortlessly at the section of canopy where he sensed the chakra. The dark-haired boy suddenly heard a loud "_Chink!"_ and a kunai came soaring back him from up above. He caught it before it dared to graze his blemishlessly pale skin, only to find that it was his. There was a small notch on the black, indicating it had been warded off by another one of its kind. The Uchiha grinned, _Sakura._

At this thought the pink-haired medic descended from her course higher up in the trees and hopped down next to him, keeping pace with his fluidly fast speed.

"Oi, no more sneak attacks ok? Save your greatness for the mission." Sarcasm stabbed deep into the last part of her sentence, and a nerve jumped ever so slightly in the corner of his forehead.

"If that was a sneak attack to you I wonder why you're even on this mission." Sakura shoved him of the branch he was currently jumping from, and as he leapt onto an alternate branch and watched her accelerate her speed, he almost thought the shove felt playful.

Sasuke sped up his pace as well, focusing all his chakra into his swiftly-moving trained feet and flew gracefully after her, eager to reach their destination before sunrise.

~*~

Sakura lay snuggled up on her lump of bedding, the bare, windowless walls blocking out the blare of the dying sun as it set behind the surrounding trees. Man, if Kakashi sensei saw this he'd be onto them with a whipping switch by now. What was it they had done? Slept the day away of course.

The two had gone so fast and swiftly during the night that they had reached their destination much earlier than they thought they would, and now she lay on the floor in a room of some random person's house in the village they were working for, who had graciously taken the two ANBU in. Suddenly a door swung open, and a column of oily lamp light opened on the dirt floor.

"Briiiiight." She moaned, blocking the light with her arm, blinking the fuzzies away from the corners of her eyes. She was about to scream 'What in Kami's name do you think you're doing?!' until she got a better look at her awakener. The younger of the two children who lived in the house with their parents stood in her doorway, an anxious, painfully apologetic expression marring his complexion.

"Uh, um,"

"Good evening to you too." Sakura replied, and even though her reply was evilly bland she cast him a warm smile. "Come one in, I'm gonna need that lamplight if I'm gonna get fully dressed." She laughed when his eyes widened at her statement, and she waved her hand at him apologetically. "No, no," Sakura stood up, letting the thin blanket fall away from her form, "I have clothes on, see? I just need to get on all my weapons." The short boy nodded, his look one of awe, and he came forward with the lamp he held in his hands. "Shut the door, will ya? I have a thing about open doors." The black-haired boy obediently shut the door behind him and eagerly pattered over to her, watching her pull on her fighting materials.

She tucked her kunai away and strapped the knife she kept with her to her calf, successfully cracking all her sore joints while doing so. White wrappings came up to her knees, and she stretched her hands into her gloves, pulling them up to her elbows. Sakura donned her headband and ANBU mask, flashing a grin at the boy and tousling his messy mop of hair as he continued to gaze at her. When he noticed she was staring back he gave a start and nearly dropped the lantern he held.

"S-sorry." He muttered, lowering his head so the light hooded his eyes. Sakura put her hands on her hips and bent down, their faces now level.

"No sweat, the real problem is awakening the dangerous Sleeping Beauty." His brown eyes met hers.

"You mean Uchiha-sama?" they were already walking down the hall towards Sasuke's room, padding quietly along the corridor.

"Sama is too good for him, just use san." Sakura gave a wink, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind." She opened the door and in an instant three kunai came flying at them, one at the village boy and two at her.

In a swift motion she caught all of them in-between her fingers, and she frowned haughtily at the grumpy Sasuke.

"No need to be so antsy so early in the evening, no need to scare people either." She scolded, throwing the kunai into the dirt floor at her feet, "I mean look at him," gesturing to the village boy, "the poor thing is trembling you heartless jerk." Sasuke cracked an eye open and gave her a fiery look.

"Get out Sakura, then next one's you won't catch."

"Maybe I wouldn't be able to catch them," Sakura sneered, putting a protective arm in front of the boy, "if you could throw." Another rain of kunai came whooshing towards them, and the medic acted accordingly. She pushed the boy out of the way with a quick "I'll be fine, you run along now." And shut the door behind her, dodging the knives, still holding the lantern she'd taken. The nin forgot to look up and one of the knives sliced her forehead."Sasuke." She moaned in protest, radiating her chakra to the cut which closed up quickly, "stop being stupid and get out of bed."

He simply rolled over, too tired to listen to his fellow ANBU anymore, and closed his eyes again, floating eagerly back towards dreamland. But no, Sakura wouldn't have it. The pink-haired nin came stomping over, set her lantern on the floor and shook him.

"Sasuke, come on, we need to eat before we go after those bastards anyway. Food, how does that sound?" It _was _a tempting offer, but not enough to get him out of bed. Sakura shook the Uchiha once more, gripping his blanket, desperately trying to rouse his from his tired state. But that did not help.

The outcome was quite unexpected though. Suddenly Sakura found herself underneath Sasuke, a death grip on her upper arm, the other pinned by his chest. He was only half on top of her really, but he was bigger than her, and all that muscle made him heavy.

"Sasuke get off." Her heart was running around in her chest like a shopaholic at a Dolce and Gabbana exclusive 90% off sale. Kami, her face was hot, it felt like it been shoved into a waffle-iron and left to steam.

"Shut up." She felt his warm breath in her ear, and she felt a shiver slide slyly down her back, mocking her all the way. He was pressed up so close she could literally _feel _herself getting dizzy, his smell of freshly crushed grass mixed with rain-wetted dirt and a weird, almost flowery scent engulfed her, making her eyes blur.

Sasuke wasn't any better. She smelled faintly of orchids, and the faded smell of red clay from dust mixed together in some kind of sweet compound, choking him with its bizarreness. But what her scent most consisted of was that of stones soaked in cold water, and very slightly she smelt of nighttime, if nighttime could indeed have a scent.

And so the two nin lay there for a few moments, taking the other one in, drinking up their features, until Sasuke finally gained control of himself again and rolled off her, sitting up and running a hand through his soft hair.

"At least that got me a few more minutes of sleep." Sakura shook her head and laughed.

"Damn your such a bastard." And then suddenly both froze, simultaneously realizing that they had both started talking normally to the other, ignoring the silence that had stretched painfully across the course of a year. The two ANBU shied away from one another's gaze, and Sasuke stood up, pulled on his gloves, shoes, weapons, headband, and animal mask, and then nodded to him companion, showing he was ready to go.

Despite herself sakura smiled, it felt good to talk to that idiot again.

~*~

The two had swallowed the small amount of soup the family had provided them with (no matter how the two told them the family had already done enough) and scarfed down the bread, eager to get in on the mission. They were both walking out the family's door, spilling their thank yous as went, until they both stood perfectly still, tapping into their senses and motioning for the family to be very quiet.

Sasuke and Sakura exchanged glances. They both felt it. There was a band of ninja, probably the one's the two had been hired to kill moving their way fast. _Very _fast. So fast, in fact, that two actually began to worry about what they were really dealing with. That was when they saw the shadows of the band on the horizon, but it was too late, there was a scream, the sound of pottery breaking, and then unnerving silence as the two waited for the band to makes its first real move.

"And so it begins." Sakura whispered quietly, her hand itching to grab the kunai she had chosen for the first attack, it was stuffed secretly in her shirt, but no one would be able to notice. Sasuke just nodded. Silence was the worst torture of all.

~*~

Review? I know you're dying to know what happens next, and as long as you review I won't keep you hanging.


	3. into thin air

Yet another chapter of this disgraceful fanfiction, read at your own risk.

~*~

No one moved. No one breathed. Three of the rogue ninja stood only meters away, still as leaves on a breezeless day, shrouded in the shadow of night. This immediately proved they were pulling something, showing themselves like that. But at least Sakura knew where the rest were hiding.

They had forgotten to mask their chakra, and she could feel them and spot them around her as if she was staring directly at each of them. _This'll be easy. _She turned her eyes to Sasuke, holding his gaze, confirming the first shot. His nod was slight, and with that the two flung their kunai at different ninja crouching in the darkness, and twin cries of pain declared they had hit their targets. Suddenly a rain of kunai shot down from above, from _above _them for Kami's sake. With a quick leap the two hopped out of the way, Sakura vaulting onto a roof while Sasuke landed on top of a stack of barrels.

Ten kunai came shooting at her, and she fell flat on her stomach, feeling the lowest flying kunai slice off a piece of her hair. _Ah well, I was meaning to give it a cut anyway._ the medic muttered in her mind, sending out a few shuriken, promptly hitting three opponents. There had been at least twelve, and Sasuke had already taken out four, Sakura three, which added to the two they had killed in the beginning. Another one down, courtesy of Sasuke.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, these guys were dropping too easily, much too easily for her liking. She hurled a trio of kunai at another one, watching as he fell from his post into the dust. It was almost as if they were villagers themselves, dying as fast as ants lured into sugar water.

"Sasuke," she whispered as he leapt up next to her, liking the angle she was using and deciding to take advantage of it as well since the work was so light, "look at how quickly they're dropping, almost like villagers." Sasuke nodded and hopped off the roof to peer at one of the dead bodies then pounce back up upon the roof, his expression one of shock.

"That's because they _are_ villagers, they all look like the men from the bar we were in earlier at that other small village, look at their faces." Sakura's eyes widened considerably.

"_What?"_ And then suddenly there was no more Sasuke, all she had seen was a flash of silver and a squirt of blood, and suddenly her companion disappeared.

"You finally realized my little trick, huh?" the voice was gravelly and unnaturally high, its mocking tone so eerie gooseflesh stretched consistently across her pale skin. Suddenly a lean looking ninja stood in front of her, holding the last fake ninja by his shirt. "You aren't going to kill them?" the real ninja shoved a sword through the man's heart, kicking him off the roof after extinguishing his life's fire. "Then I will." His chuckle was dark, his face hooded by the betraying dim light of the moon.

"So it was just one of you all along." She whipped an array of shuriken at him; he flipped and dodged with ease. And then he was behind her, gripping her wrist so she couldn't grab anymore weapons, his low voice in her ear.

"Such a clever little kunoichi. You see I used my puppeteer skills, you must have heard of these justsu's, correct." She pounded him in the stomach, sinking a kunai into his shoulder, missing his neck as he moved.

"So you used their drunk bodies as puppets huh?" He was gone in a puff of smoke, and then suddenly his voice was in her ear again, even though she could not sense him.

"Clever, ah, so clever." His whispered words tickled her eardrum, and she thrashed at the air behind her. He was good, oh so good, much better than her she quickly realized. He was the air around her, and she could not feel him, but she knew he was there.

"Where the hell is Sasuke?!" she shouted, turning around and around, trying to get a glimpse of her taunting pursuer.

"You wouldn't be mad with me if I told you I choked him, would you?" she struck out at her side from which the voice had come. All he did was laugh. "Well I didn't, I simply stabbed him to death." Sakura could feel her heart stop beating in her chest, but that didn't throw her off focus.

"Play fair you sick bastard!" she yelled, her self control slowly slipping from her grasp. Suddenly he was in front of her, sending a brigade of shuriken spinning in her direction.

"I'll play fair, little kunoichi, but I doubt you'll beat me even if I do." Sakura growled as she moved out of the way of the weapons, sending her own whirling at him at an impossible speed.

"Too slow." Again his sick voice muttered in her ear, and she turned around, sinking yet another kunai into his chest. All he did was grin as he pulled it out, and she watched the skin smooth over. _Fuck! He's a healer! _she cursed, stepping out of his range. He came at her with his sword and she grabbed her knife from her leg, the blades clashing. The ninja grinned evilly at her. "Bad move sweetheart." He was behind her, slicing open all her nerves as he slid his sword down her back, making all her spinal fluid flow. She let out a scream and as she tried to heal it he was in front of her yet again, and before she could stop his ridiculously fast movements he had stabbed her own dagger into her chest and dragged it down, ripping open all her vital organs in one merciless stroke. "At least you'll meet your boyfriend in heaven." He cooed tauntingly, watching her stumble back as he pulled the dagger from her stomach. The ninja held it up to the moonlight. "I could use this." That was her opening, the opening Sakura had been waiting for all along. The nin pounced forward even as her life blood dripped from her front and knocked him off his feet. He was hers.

"Suck on this, bastard." And with that she crushed his skull in with her foot, the sickly crunch as it reduced itself to bloody splinters echoing through the breezy night air.

The medic half-heartedly healed her back, and closed the skin in the front, not even bothering to heal the tears in her organs. The rest of her chakra was for _him._

Sasuke lay in the dust, excepting death as its cold fingertips began to stretch across his skin. He was sure Sakura was dead too, despite his best efforts of jumping in front of the blade and protecting her. And then suddenly she was kneeling next to him, only half alive, her hands forcing healing chakra into his wounds.

"Sakura?" she glanced at him and smiled sadly, and he could see the tears glowing in her eyes.

"It's all my fault. I'm so sorry." She was soaked in blood he noticed, and a huge gash running from her chest to her stomach was sloppily scabbed over. He flinched; he knew what she was doing.

"Sakura stop! Stop it!" all she did was smile through her tears, happy he had realized what she was doing. She was using her chakra to heal him. _All of it. _He knew she wouldn't have enough to heal herself, partly because his wound was much worse than hers and partly because she had little left.

"I won't." her voice was determined, and just as she fully healed him he jerked her hand away. Sasuke held the dying medic close, cradling her in his arms. Dark blood stained her carnation-pink hair, and her viridian eyes were beginning to cloud over in death.

"Sakura." He whispered, pressing his face into her hair. "Don't you dare leave me."

~*~

Cliffie! Cliffie cliffie cliffie! Review, or else you will be held in suspense forever! Muahahaha! And it was a short chapter, so you know you wanna know more.


	4. like a drug

Yay, last chapter! Sorry it took me a while, I was just being a lazy. Anyways, enjoy!

~*~

_Not dead. _These words were the first to come to mind as the pink-haired ANBU slipped slowly back into consciousness, eyelids heavy, body like a feather. _I wouldn't feel this crappy if I were dead. _She tried to find her voice, and successfully let out a tired grunt. _Aha! So I'm not dead. _Sakura grunted again, happy to feel the familiar vibrating in her throat. _Everything _hurt it seemed, every muscle, every inch of skin, every hair on her body ached. Yes, she was definitely alive alright. _Now, if I could just open my eyes. _They were so heavy, and now as she tried to open them she found them sealed closed. _Huh? _Her body moved off its own accord as she raised a hand painfully to meet her eye, only to find it encrusted in sleep. _I must've been tearing. _she thought, raking the gunk off her eyelashes and lids.

Slowly she opened her eyes and lay there blinking for a few minutes, waiting out the clouding of blurriness to disappear from her eyes. She let the darkness she was laying in register before she slowly sat up, her head sent reeling into a dizzy spell. _Man I feel like shit. _Sakura slowly recalled the happenings that had occurred before she had left reality for the enticement of darkness, the ninja, getting injured, healing Sasuke, _dying. _But now she found that last part didn't happen, although search her if she knew _why _exactly she was not well off and deceased.

Her green eyes scoped her surroundings. She was in a tent, the kind her and Sasuke used for camping out while on missions. Black bedding lay in a tangled mess around her, and she could tell without a mirror that she probably look a little worse for wear. Sighing she raked her hands through her knotted, Easter-egg pink locks, deciding to make the best of her current situation.

The nin found her regular ANBU clothes conveniently folded beside her. _First thing's first, _she thought, eyeing the clothes with mild skepticism; _I need to get properly dressed. _Silently she shrugged on the white ANBU vest over her tank top, pulling on her black pants over her shorts soon after. Used to doing this routine every morning she unwrapped her shins, ankles, and feet and re-wrapped them over her pants so the bottoms wouldn't trip her if she needed to make a quick getaway.

The pink-haired ANBU pulled her mask on and to the side of her face, then proceeded to crawl out of the tent and into the cool, fresh air of night. She breathed in deeply as she made her way to the campfire only a few yards from the tent, coming up behind a certain recognizable Uchiha.

She glared at the back of his head and flicked him, causing him to jump.

"No need to flinch," she muttered, going around the fire to sit across from him, "you should've sensed my chakra anyway." Sasuke shrugged, poking at the fire with a stick he had found.

"I was spacing out. Besides, there's no one dangerous around here, it's the middle of nowhere." Sakura glanced at the trees plentiful with green leaves huddled around them, concluding their location in a foresty area. "How do you feel?"

"Like bird poop….can I ask a question?" Sasuke looked up at her, stopping his prodding at the fire for a moment.

"What?"

"Why is my name not on the grieving stone in Konoha?" Sasuke smiled, looking back into the shuddering orange flames of the fire.

"Because Kami must owe you a pretty big favor." Sakura sighed, resting her chin on her palm.

"No, I mean, I'm healed. Who the hell-"

"You wouldn't believe how many people around here are skilled healers." Sasuke said, cutting his teammate off, "Although most of the false ninjas were the healers, and they were all killed." Sakura shook her head.

"I am _way _too lucky, this is _not _happening. I really, _really _hope you're not going to say I was healed by one of those random villagers that just _happened _to be a healer are you?" Sasuke looked up and grinned.

"Yes, that's exactly what I was going to say." Sakura groaned. "He was really old and stuff, and he just kind of hobbled over and healed you. Although it took a seriously long time, you were practically dead when he finally started pumping his chakra into you." Sakura just glared at her companion.

"I can't believe this, its waaaay too lucky. And where the hell did he get training? Why is he living out here? Agh! It's as if someone is just dictating this as they go, making some strange, impossible dumb luck just suddenly occur! (Valkyrie-o_0 Jesus she's good.)" Sakura looked down, and then back up at Sasuke. "Well?" He stared back at her, the pools of swirling black irises enveloping the piney green of her eyes in his gaze.

"Well what?"

"Don't you have _any _explanation to why all of this happened?" Sasuke just shook his head.

"The healer said that there and in the surrounding villages healing is a really big , really old tradition for them, but they have no idea who that rogue ninja was." The medic shrugged.

"It doesn't really matter anymore, he's dead now." Sasuke nodded, still staring into the flames of the thriving fire.

"That one guy healed you, that's all there is to it. Now, stop talking about it.

He then looked back up at her, taking in her slightly slouched form as she, too, stared into the hypnotic motion of the fire, eyes glazed over with the glowing light. Confused she let out a deflated sigh, returning to the task at hand.

The medic began to roll up her shirt and Sasuke looked at her in alarm, confused of why she was doing this. To his relief and heavy disappointment she stopped rolling it up just before her bust (which was in wrappings anyway mind you) and she peered down at her stomach.

"Well, he didn't do a very good job." Sasuke's eyebrow rose.

"No?" Sakura pointed.

"See this? That wouldn't have happened if _I_ healed it." She was referring to the long pink scar that traveled up her stomach, disappearing under the hem of her shirt. "The pink color will probably go away in time, but the scar'll always be there. And I can't fix it either because I can't heal perfectly healthy skin, and scars count as perfectly healthy skin. Besides," she sighed, gesturing to the jagged, puffy line of scar tissue that marred the lower part of her hip, caused by getting sliced open a few years ago, "I have enough already." Sasuke shrugged and scooted a little closer, running his finger down the new salmon-colored scar and making her shiver.

"I think it looks fine." He teased, smirking at her reaction. The medic shoved her shirt back down once more and grabbed his wrists.

"Kami your cold. What, have you been soaking your hands in ice?" without letting him answer she took his hands and held them to either side of her neck, heating them with its warm temperature. Her sea-green eyes looked straight into his inky ebony ones, smiling slightly. "Feel better?" He swallowed the giddy feeling that was riding up in his throat, and he could feel his heart doing jumping jacks inside his chest. She was just so damn amazing, with those shockingly solidly colored eyes, such a dark, unbelievable shade of green, and her hair like the faint pink of water lilies, hanging in wispy, soft, thread-like strands about her face, short and as fluttery as a moth's wings when it's learning to fly. Muscles were hidden under her scarred pale skin, tricking you into thinking they weren't there. _Whoa Sasuke, _he thought, steadying himself, _don't go overboard. It's just Sakura. _Just _Sakura. _

"Were you worried?" Sasuke looked at her, snapping out of his daze.

"Worried about what?" Sakura looked away, a hardly noticeable tint of pink appeared as she turned her head away, successfully hiding the small smile that was begging to unfold.

"Nothing." Sasuke stared hard at her, studying her facial expression with a sweep of his eyes.

"About you?" she shook her head, feathery strands of pink pastel hair shivering in the breeze.

"No." she denied, staring hard at something Sasuke couldn't see. They sat like that in quiet for a while, him staring at her while she looked uncomfortably away, settling her gaze upon anything but him. After a long stretch of silence he spoke again.

"I was." Again Sakura hardened her gaze on the object she was staring at.

"I didn't ask you that." His hands were in his lap now, no longer wrapped around the warm of her neck, and her hands clutched her upper arms, scrunched as if she were suffering from chill.

"You were thinking it." Sasuke said reassuringly, smirking as the light tint on her cheeks came to look even more like a blush.

"As if you know what I think."

"I do." His tone was suddenly serious, and she pulled her gaze back to him, studying how truthful his expression had become. "It shows on your face, and in your voice." The medic crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"What am I thinking now, oh Sasuke the psychic?"

_Now is the time! _It was his inner self speaking, telling him to make a move.

_Time for what? _

_To do…this!_

"Hickory smoked cat hooves." Sakura's jaw dropped.

"What?" Sasuke was leaning towards her, his hands steadying him on the ground so he wouldn't fall on top of her. Sakura, still shocked, didn't notice.

"A distraction." was all that Sasuke found himself saying as he leaned in closer yet, his face inches away from hers.

"A distra-" her confused words were cut off when suddenly his lips were pressed to hers and his hand was at the small of her back, keeping her from falling over because he had leaned in so close.

He watched as her eyes closed and then he quickly copied her, letting his eyelashes fall down to his cheeks. Her scent intoxicated him and suddenly he was breathing her, feeling her, tasting and seeing her even as his eyes were lidded. Was it healthy for his heart to beat this fast, surely not this hard? But he was to drunk in all that was Sakura to give a damn, to care if he died on the spot right here, right now.

After a year of anticipating, looking from afar, and biting down so hard upon his tongue it bled he was finally able to give in, to indulge on the need he had been living with for so long, enduring for so long. And God was it worth it.

Sakura, on the other hand, couldn't seem to think at all. She was, 'caught in the moment' as you might say. She was hallucinating. She was sick, she was seeing things, feeling things, comforting the fact that she would never be able to do this in real life. The medic needed a sign, a sign to show that this was all real, that it was all actually _happening. _The aspect was ridiculous she could hardly process it. Perhaps Kami _had_ owed her a favor. If she hadn't survived that sure-to-die situation this would never be happening, she wouldn't even be _dreaming _of this happening if it wasn't for some random healer.

Sakura was like a drug, a drug everyone should be frightened of getting addicted to. Sasuke smiled, she was _his _drug now, his very own drug that he could get psyched on again and again. He wrapped his arms possessively around her, growing protective of the body of the person he loved so much. His fingers were hopelessly tangled in her pink tresses, and one of her small hands pressed against the side of his neck, the other clutching the front of his shoulder. No, she was more like a sickness, a fever that no matter what you did you could never cool down.

Gently, reluctantly the Uchiha pulled away, making both simultaneously realize neither had been breathing through the entire lapse of their sudden kiss. They were silent, staring at the other one, not knowing what to say, what to do. Sakura sobered a bit, the cloudiness of surprise and lovely intoxication fading slightly from her eyes.

"I love you." Her face was serious and yet so casual, it was if she were saying hello. Sasuke opened his mouth but Sakura interrupted, cutting him off before he even started. "It's not cliché, Sasuke, it's something people say when they love you. They say it, admit it to the other person." It was as if she were suddenly schooling him in the ways of love, and Sasuke grinned. In a swift motion he had pulled her into a hug, holding her closer than he knew was possible.

"You won't believe how glad I was when I found out you were alive. I got the weirdest looks when I started dancing on the rooftops." His words were whispered into her hair, and she held him tighter, laughing slightly. The black-haired boy moved to kiss her once again, but her fingertips pressed firmly to his lips stopped him.

"Nu uh," she said, shaking her head as she pressed her fingers to his mouth, "you ain't getting anything unless you say it."

"Say what?" his tone was innocent. Sakura narrowed her eyes, he was teasing her.

"Fine, sleep well, ok Sasuke?" she kept the disappointment out of her light tone as she pulled away from his embrace and casually began strolling to her tent. Sasuke hopped up from his current position and grabbed her wrist before she slipped inside the tent, yanking her so her back collided with his chest. His pulled her close, bending down to whisper in her ear.

"You don't have to force me into it you know." Sakura's tone remained unfazed.

"If that's not a problem then you should have no trouble saying it." He made his voice low, pressing his lips to her ear and uttered the words, meaning them more than she could possibly imagine. The medic spun around in joy only to be hoisted up at the hips by Sasuke, forcing her to lean her hands onto the tops of his shoulders for stability. With laughter in her eyes she leaned down and kissed him, heart as light as a sparrow's wing.

The rest is history, as you may very well know. But I must say that Naruto was quite pleased with the sudden development of speech between the two when they came back, only he just couldn't understand why when he went to Sasuke or Sakura's apartment at night he'd find himself hopelessly locked out at night. What puzzled him the most was the way Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other after those puzzling nights, and how a twinkle of something he almost recognized flickered in their eyes when he assigned them a mission. He did not understand the twinkle, that is, until he passed Hinata on the street and felt the same color flash in his eye as he observed the same thing in hers. Yes, perhaps he could figure it out now.

~*~

The end! Please review, I was really self conscious of this whole thing and how frickn' lucky I made sakura. I mean, what are the chances of this old guy coming along and saving you from sudden death? Review!

-Valkyrie


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